How to Upgrade to Lightroom 4

Are you still afraid to upgrade to Lightroom 4? I really do wish I could come to your house and walk you through installing it. But I can’t.

So I do the next best thing I can do is write about it here in hopes that you won’t be afraid any longer.

The truth is that software changes. It upgrades and following along is part of the process. It likely won’t be THAT much longer before we are talking about Lightroom 5 (no, I don’t have an inside track and am not announcing ANYTHING—I am just guessing because it happens to all good programs.) And if you want to stay current with the program, you won’t want to be too far behind the curve.

I love Lightroom 4. I was totally happy with Lightroom 3.........until I upgraded to 4 and realized just how much better it was at processing my photos. I have had no problems with Lightroom 4 and upgrading was a quick cinch.

And if you are still feeling nervous about an upgrade, let me make it a little more friendly with some steps to upgrading right now.

1) Purchase the program. Lightroom 4 and the upgrade are cheaper than they have ever been. You can order the box from Amazon like you did in the past, or you can branch out and download the program from Adobe or Amazon.

2) Install. Follow the instructions and remain calm. Upgrading to Lightroom 4 will not decimate Lightroom 3. You can actually still have both (though your computer may run slowly running two such AWESOME programs if you don’t have a fast computer.) Lightroom 4 will make a copy of your catalog and make a few changes to prepare it for Lightroom 4. But NO changes will be made to previous edits you’ve done and I promise your photos won’t disappear. In fact, they will still be there and look just the same as the last time you opened them EXCEPT there will be a circle with an exclamation point in it to let you know that they were edited with Lightroom 3 and not Lightroom 4.

3) Play around and watch or read the many tutorials here on Pretty Presets! This is the best way to learn any new program. Don’t be frustrated if you don’t know everything about it the first second you open it up. NONE of us did. Just be patient and get used to the new options. There are so many great lightroom tutorials here that will walk you through using this wonderful program. Take advantage of them.

Hi!! I am Gayle. I am a wife to my handsome husband and mom to 4 beautiful kids. In my spare time, I am a photographer and blogger at Mom and Camera. I have a passion for sharing my love of photography with others. I teach local photography classes and regularly share photography tips and tricks on my blog. I hang out there a lot—I’d love you to stop by and visit!